The Nemean Lion
by Worus
Summary: Chris doesn't like her Step-Father. She also doesn't like Video games. And because life is full of Irony, she is trapped within a video game with her Step-Father. Rated M for Violence.
1. Chapter 1

_This version of SAO is slightly different than the canon. It has blood, pain and possibly dismemberment, thus the M Rating._

* * *

It's one of _those_ days. Chris woke up with a hangover, like she practically always does on weekends, despite only being 16. Something was different today, though. She looked over on her nightstand and, to her surprise, found a plate of bacon and eggs, accompanied by a glass of water.

''What the hell?'', she thought as she inspected the water closely. Surely, this was some kind of trick or a test by her Step-Father, who always hated the fact that Chris had fun on weekends. A careful sip, and a lack of death by poison, lead to her drinking the water in two quick gulps.

As she started to eat her breakfast in bed, she quickly stopped eating as she heard someone approach her door and knock. As always, before she could respond, Raymond entered her room.

''Good morning, Christina.'' He smiled as he entered the bright room, that was obviously designed by Chris' mom. Bright-blue walls and white furniture would make any rebellious 16-year-old daughter vomit, if it weren't for that big painting of the Nemean Lion above her bed, the only piece of decoration she chose herself. Aside from partying, mythology is the only thing Chris is really interested in.

''What is it?'' she replied, suspiciously. He smiled a little brighter as he saw the empty glass and the half-empty plate. ''I see you already enjoyed the breakfast I made you.''

Before she could attempt to empty her stomach by gagging on her finger, he quickly resumed talking. ''Relax, relax. I didn't put anything in it. I just thought we should try and get a bit closer. You know, as father and dau-'' ''You're not my father, Raymond.'' she interrupted.

He sighed. ''Alright, _Step-_ Father and _Step_ -Daughter. That's why I bought these…''

He quickly exits the room and comes back in with two boxes, which had ''Argus'' written on them. ''Now, I know you don't really like video games that much, but I'm sure even yo-''

''Not interested.'' she interrupted, looking at her phone now.

''Come on, just try it out. They cost a lot of money, and getting them was difficult…'' he said, using the most disappointed and sad voice he could manage, and it had the desired effect.

Chris sighed, and then asked. ''What's in the boxes?''  
His face brightened up immediately. ''These are NerveGears. They are the newest consoles on the market, and normally only available in Japan. They are perfect Virtual Reality consoles, meaning that you move and speak just like in Real Life.''

''What's the point, then? I can move and speak like in Real Life right now.''  
As if he had expected such a question, he smirked. ''Can you fight hordes of monsters, wield swords and form armies in real life?'' He confidently held the box towards his Step-Daughter, who, intrigued, took it. ''The game is already in the box. I'll set it up for you if you need any help, meanwhile I'll set mine up. Just tell me when you log in, okay?'' As he rushed off into his room like a child with a new toy, Chris had to ask herself who the more mature one was.

After she had finally figured out that the cable was for the internet and not for more power, as was her theory at first, she laid down in her bed, with the console on her head. She had memorized the starting words from the manual and prepared for an interesting experience. ''Link, start.''


	2. Chapter 2

The last game Chris had played was Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare II. That was 3 years ago. This was completely different. Sure, she didn't expect guns in a game called ''Sword Art Online'', but it wasn't just the content. It was everything.

First, she created her character. Knowing her Step-father is also playing this game, she chose a male character and decided to make him the exact opposite of her. Instead of her blonde, boyish hair, that she only got to piss off her Step-dad, she gave him shoulder-length black hair, made him a bit smaller than her 1.74m, and a bit more bulkier than her more narrow build. She chose to keep her golden eye color, just because she thought it looked cool, and there was no way he could spot her based on eye color. She decided to give him the name she had used in her Shooter days, Nemea.

That was the easy part.

When she looked around, and walked around in the Town of Beginnings, she was completely in awe. It's like Raymond had said, you move and talk like in Real Life, but it's so much better. You can see a beautiful sunset and a grassy field full of monsters, just from the town border. She was amazed. Of course she didn't fight anything yet, as she had no idea how to do that, but she'd figure it out eventually.

Can't be too hard in a game where you move like in real life, right?

She decided to go back to the inner town to maybe get some information. She spotted a girl with brown, shoulder-length hair who couldn't be older than herself, and approached her.  
''Hey.'' she said, surprised at how deep her voice suddenly was due to her avatar.

''Uhm… hey..?'' The girl replied, slightly weirded out by Chris' appearance.

''Do you know what to do first in this game? I'm not a gamer.'' Noticing the girl's reaction, she quickly added ''Don't worry, I'm actually a girl. I'm just hiding from my Step-dad.''

''Uh-huh… Well, you should probably buy a weapon and some potions in the shop at the spawn. I can take you there.''

''Thanks.'' Chris smiled at the girl, and together they set off toward the shop, past many, many other people in all shapes and sizes, talking with each other, all incredibly happy about being part of this game.

As they arrived, Chris already heard the familiar voice of her Step-father out of the shop. ''Uhm, are you sure there isn't another shop we could go to?'' Chris asked the girl quickly.

''The others are too expensive for starting gear.'' she replied as she entered the shop.

''Great…'' Chris thought, following the girl reluctantly.

As Chris had seen coming, a taller and more muscular version of her Step-Father was jumping from player to player in the shop, simply saying ''Chris?'' before moving on to his next victim.

She let out a sigh at the embarrassment that he embodies, and decided that the best course of action would be to ignore him. Chris simply stepped in the long line at the counter.

The girl turned to Chris. ''Well, I already have my weapon, so I'll leave now. Nice to meet you…?'' she said, expecting to hear a name.

Chris managed a small smile before saying ''Chri- Nemea.'' She quickly tried to correct her mistake, but Raymond already heard her. ''Chris? Is that you?'' he asked as he ran over to her. The girl laughed. ''Okay Nemea. My name is Lisbeth. It was nice to meet you.'' she said as she started leaving.

After she had left, Chris decided to pull through with her plan of ignoring Raymond.

''Nemea? That's a great character name! I chose the name ''Atom''. But I have to say, that is an odd character build for someone like you…''

As Chris face-palmed silently, and mentally choked her Step-Father, she got to the front of the line. The NPC shopkeeper said ''What would you like?'' before a menu with an array of weaponry and armor appeared before Chris. She looked through the weapons, only going for what would look cool instead of looking at the stats, fully aware that she had no idea about stats.

After finding something that would suit her name, she selected the claws and paid with the small amount of money she had. She closed the menu and stepped out of line, equipping her new weapons. Of course, Raymond followed close-by. ''Man, that sure fits! The Nemean Lion has claws now!''

Immediately, she tried to punch him in the gut, which had no effect. His expression quickly changed into a more serious face. ''Chris, that was very rude. But you can't attack people in major cities like this one. Why would you wa-'' He was interrupted by a light that engulfed him, and made him disappear.

''Well… that's convenient.'' she said to herself, before being teleported herself.


End file.
